Lynmouth, Rising Sun Inn

We had a great time at the Rising Sun in April 2010. On arrival, my niece and I asked for a room, the landlady said you might as well have a room each as the price was the same (a bit of a luxury for us as we had been sharing a room during our journeys through Cornwall. While not in the old inn, we both had lovely rooms in the annexe, with plenty of same. A fabulous town, reminded me a bit of a swiss village with the mountains and the river cascading through.

This hotel was spotted & booked by my partner from the AA Good Pub Guide, as part of a Home - Padstow - Wales - Home round trip weekend. On booking, my good lady did get confused with the £60 per person price quoted (on the phone) and mistakenly thought it was £60 per room. When questioned on arrival the abrupt response we got was "is it a problem then?" rather than a more polite understanding. As we arrived late on the Saturday night we decided to grin and bear the unexpected cost and went to the room. The room itself was ok, albeit small, but the en suite was completely inadequate, with only a shower (more like cupboard) that was incredibly difficult to get in & out (and I am somewhat vertically challenged) and as it only offered a Mira electric shower it barely got you wet!

Opting for the traditional Fish and Chips, in the very cramped restaurant, the beer batter was good, but the fish was soggy and the chips suspiciously looking like they originated from the cash 'n carry freezer - on the whole, worse than my local chippie at more than double the price!!

We settled in for a glass of wine in the bar but soon found that the staff were much too busy to engage with paying guests and just laughed & joked with the locals.

On retiring to bed we found the room freezing, as the radiator was turned off and there was a cold breeze through the window. On informing the staff I was just given instructions on how to turn the radiator on without offering to help.

Breakfast did not fare any better as the salmon & scambled egg were completely tasteless and the 'fresh' orange juice tasted awful - with a premium rate of £150 you would have least thought there would be fresh fruit available as part of the buffet - but unfortunately not!

Pointing these issues out to the receptionist during check out and mentioning that competitors in the same village were selling rooms at £60 per room, the overall arrogance of the staff and hotel ambience was encapsulated in one phrase "we just do our own thing here!"

This is the first ever time I have written a hotel review and disappointed that I had to write such a negative one, but the Rising Sun in Lynmouth have given me the bench mark for all future reviews.

Compared to Rick Stein's hotel in Padstow (comparably priced) the Rising Sun hotel has a very poor specification, arrogant staff, incredulous service, bland food and noisy regulars. All in all, with all the 'coveted' awards, a hotel very much in denial!

The Rising Sun Inn landlady very pleasant, landlord rather unhelpful. Food was very mediocre, Sea Bass was very bland, vegetables were either under-cooked or over-cooked. Good beer, pleasant surroundings, but I could in no way recommend the food.

We stayed at the Rising Sun Inn in Lynmouth for a 3 night mid-week B&B break. The location is right on the small harbour, and our room was quite small. However, the furnishings were of good quality, and the bathroom was fine, if a little quirky.

The Rising Sun Inn will not suit everyone. The stairs are narrow and steep, and floors are uneven and sloping, and they can be difficult to negotiate.

The pub bar does bar food which looked good. It also has a restaurant which is attractive, and the service of the more experienced staff was good, although inevitably there were some newbies. The food was good, but some of the dishes were overpriced.

We stayed at the Rising Sun Inn in Lynmouth for 2 nights at the end of a touring holiday.

We paid extra for the view which was lovely, but we had a room in the annex, which was clean but very small.

You are paying for the location, but for what you get the room seemed expensive.

We ate in the bar and it was nice. We did not try the restaurant for dinner, as we were too tired for the more formal setting.